Maritime History

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Submitted by Guinevere

Sailors

The term sailor is commonly used to describe any man who went to sea, whether in the Royal Navy, Merchant Navy, Coastguards, Lifeboat Service, fishing fleet or as a pilot, privateer or a single boatman. If a man went to sea he was a sailor.

Mariners

The term mariner can be synonymous with sailor but is more likely to mean that the man was concerned with the navigation of the vessel. Master mariners were those skilled in navigation. A Master Mariner would probably have a Mate or Master's ticket and be on the Seaman's Register at the National Archives. Mariners would come under the umbrella heading of the Merchant Navy.

The main source for tracing details of merchant seamen and shipping, especially from the 18th century onwards, are the archives of the Registry of Shipping and Seamen (RSS). These records are held in a number of places. Some are with the RSS in Cardiff, some with the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich and National Archives of Scotland and Ireland. However, the majority are held in The National Archives in Kew. These records are broken down into categories and an explanation of how these can be viewed can be found on The National Archives.

Organised service records do not commence until 1835 when The Merchant Shipping Act of that year required masters of all ships to file Agreements and Crew Lists with the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen.

For those researching mariner ancestors who are experiencing difficulty locating them on the England and Wales census, Seamen on British Censuses contains a good explanation of the requirements regarding enumeration and may assist in helping you to locate those missing people!

The National Maritime Museum ~ Maritime Memorials is another good source of information for those researching this field.

Text from Family Tree Forum Online Magazine ~ Volume Two: April 2008

General Links






The Royal Navy



The Merchant Navy



Coastguards and Coastal Defences



The Fishing Industry



Lifeboats


Many other Lifeboat stations have their own history sites, often with old Crew Lists and Photographs - these include:-



Lighthouses



Shipbuilding



Shipping Companies



Shipwrecks



Smuggling



Ports and Harbours




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